Eastern Snohomish County Motorcycle Ride and Oso Update

As we get to the middle of September, we are grateful for every day we can still go for a motorcycle ride in the sunshine and return home in time for a swim in the lake.  Today we left Granite Falls around 10:30 a.m.  The temperature had already gotten to 70 degrees as we traveled Jordan Road toward Arlington.  We met about 200 motorcycles coming into Granite as we headed out.

I love barns and mountains and bodies of water - so this ride through Arlington, Oso, Darrington, Rockport, Lyman, Hamilton, Sedro Woolley, Clear Lake, Big Lake, Lake McMurray, and Bryant is one of my favorites.

We still had to follow a pilot car on a single lane through the slide area just beyond Oso, but they are making good progress on repairing Hwy 530, and we were on the main highway instead of the powerline road. 

Debris from the cars and structures destroyed by the slide has been removed.  The landscape has forever changed though.  Instead of undulating hills and valleys down to the river, it is pretty flat. 

It's interesting to look at the strata in the hillside that collapsed.  Sand levels are clearly visible in several places, which probably contributed to the instability of the hillside.

Just before Darrington, we had stunning views of the glaciers on Whitehorse Mountain.

Where the Sauk and Suattle Rivers come together, we could see the different colors of the water where the glacier water from the Suattle joins the bluer water of the Sauk.

We stopped in Sedro Woolley for a late lunch and then headed home on Highway 9, where we watched waterskiers on Big Lake and fishermen on Lake McMurray.  Yes, it's still summer in the Pacific Northwest!

Children, Motorcycle Rides, and Christmas Cards

Oh, I know, I've been terrible about updating the blog for the past couple of months.  I probably did have time - after all, it's hard to stay busy for 24 (or even 6 or 8) hours every day.  However, it has been summer, and that is our busy time of year.  We've enjoyed visiting the south sound family:

Where the lucky grandchildren who live here not only have a pool, but the pool has a spectacular view of Mt Rainier!

The good weather has kept us out on the bike several days each week.  This trip took us all the way up to the Blue Mountain Grill in Whatcom County. 

This ride takes us through several pretty towns - like Clear Lake,

 

where my third cousin who has researched the family says one branch of our family once settled.

 

And where we have mountain views all the way from Big Lake to the Blue Mountain Grill.

Lots of blue showing on Mt. Baker after a warm summer!

oh, and I've been making birthday and Christmas cards in my spare time.

My sister, Mona, introduced me to collage several years ago, and I have never looked at anything flat the same since.  A simple pretty leaf is fun to work into a card.

As I deadhead my flower beds, I collect some to dry and use later in the collage cards.

Tissue wrapping paper that I used to discard now becomes the base for cards. 

Today I finally cleaned up my mess and finished making cards for a while, but I actually hated to do that.  I'll still remember all this fun labor as I clean up glitter for the next month or so.